Job Seeker Premium Playbook
Table of Contents
Welcome to Job
Seeker Premium!
At LinkedIn, we want everyone to find—and land—
their dream job. We offer a variety of tools for all job
seekers to find their next big career opportunity.
With Job Seeker Premium, you can take your job
search to the next level. Did you know that on
average, Job Seeker Premium subscribers get hired
twice as fast as non-Premium job seekers?
Get noticed by employers
03
Get connected to recruiters
and hiring managers
13
Get ahead with Premium insights
20
More Premium features to explore
23
Get the most from LinkedIn
25
So, let’s get started.
linkedin.com | 2
Get noticed by employers
One of the toughest parts of a job search is getting noticed by the right people: recruiters,
hiring managers, and anyone else looking for top talent on LinkedIn. The more tools you
have to stand out from the crowd and differentiate yourself from other candidates, the
more your experience and professional accomplishments can shine.
Stand out with a
Premium Profile
A strong LinkedIn profile is a great way to impress
potential employers and show them the value you
can bring to their organizations.
How it works
To turn on Premium Profile, go to the Settings page at
linkedin.com/settings. Select Premium Profile under the
Profile and Search section and hit Save. Then click Profile in
the LinkedIn nav bar and click Edit Background to choose a
background image for your profile.
As a Premium member, you can stand out from other
LinkedIn members with a larger profile picture and
customizable background image. Choose from our
20 options or upload your own.
The Premium Profile is on by default, but can easily
be turned off from your Settings page if you prefer.
With Expanded Search Listing, your profile
appears 2x larger in search results, showcasing
more of your professional highlights to viewers.
linkedin.com | 4
How it works
Get more views
Optimize your profile:
The Summary section of your profile is a great
way to show who you are as a professional. With
Suggested Keywords, you’ll get personalized
suggestions for keywords you can use to help
get found more often in search results.
Start editing the Summary section of your profile
and you will start to see keyword suggestions that
can be added to your summary. These keyword
suggestions are used by professionals like you to
drive more visitors to their profiles.
Keyword Suggestions
Make it easy for others to see you:
With Open Profile, any LinkedIn member can
see your full profile and reach out to you,
free of charge. That way, you’ll never miss an
opportunity. Open Profile is on by default, but
you can easily turn it off from your Settings
page, if you prefer.
linkedin.com | 5
Premium visibility
in action
Advanced
Claudia Robles wants to be seen by more recruiters
and hiring managers on LinkedIn and encourage
them to contact her.
She chooses a background image that represents
her profession, uploads a new profile headshot, and
updates her summary to include relevant keywords
for her industry. She also turns on Open Profile to
make her full profile visible to anyone on LinkedIn
and allow them to contact her for free.
Send InMail
Past:
Education:
Within a week, Kris Zammerman, a recruiter at XYZ
Technologies finds Claudia’s profile during her
candidate search on LinkedIn. She looks at Claudia’s
full profile and sees that she is a good fit for the
Marketing Director role she’s trying to fill. Kris sends
Claudia a message, asking if she is interested in
learning more about the job.
linkedin.com | 6
How it works
Apply to jobs as a
Featured Applicant
When you see the Apply now button on a job you’re interested
in, click on it to begin your application. At the bottom of the
module, you will see a box that says Feature My Application.
This box is checked by default.
Once your profile is in top shape, you’re ready to
apply to jobs. There are hundreds of thousands
of jobs posted on LinkedIn, with opportunities
spanning various industries, functions, locations, and
experience levels.
As a Premium member, you can apply to jobs as a
Featured Applicant*. As a Featured Applicant, your
job application will appear above job applications
from non-Premium members, thus increasing your
chances of having it viewed.
*This feature applies to jobs that have the Apply now button, which appears when the job
poster has chosen to collect applications via LinkedIn.com instead of the company website.
✓
Apply Now
linkedin.com | 7
Featured Applicant
in action
Jenny Jones, a Financial Analyst, finds an
interesting job at the Beauridge Group, a
startup in the Accounting industry, and decides
to apply.
She clicks the Apply now button to apply with
her LinkedIn profile, resume, and cover letter.
When the job poster at the Beauridge Group
checks LinkedIn to see the list of applicants, job
applications from Premium members, including
Jenny, appear on top.
linkedin.com | 8
Track your impact
All LinkedIn members can see the past five people
who have viewed their profile. As a Premium
member, you can Who’s Viewed Your Profile for the
past 90 days.
Plus, with How You Rank, you’ll see how you
compare to your connections and colleagues in
terms of profile views and get suggestions on how
to improve your rank. Basic LinkedIn members
see the top 10 most viewed people among their
connections and colleagues, plus the 5 people
above and below them. But as a Premium member,
you see the full list of the top 100, plus rankings for
‘Professionals like you.’
How it works
To see how you rank, go to Who’s Viewed My Profile via the
dropdown menu under the ‘Profile’ tab on LinkedIn or the
‘Who’s Viewed Your Profile’ section on the LinkedIn homepage.
Then click on the ‘How you rank for profile views’ tab.
You rank in the top 43% for profile views in
your connections.
#135 out of 317 |
7% in the last 7 days
linkedin.com | 9
Who’s Viewed Your
Profile in action
Anthony Cruz, a Sales Manager in the
Telecommunications industry, applies to several jobs
in his city, including a role at ABC Corporation.
He signs into his Premium account and checks the
Who’s Viewed Your Profile module. He sees that
Sharon Smith, a recruiter at ABC Corporation, has
looked at his profile in the past 24 hours. Now that
Anthony knows Sharon’s interested, he has a warm
lead he can confidently follow up with.
Who’s Viewed Your Profile
Today
Sharon Smith
Connect
linkedin.com | 10
Tips for getting more opportunities
Follow these three tips to take full advantage of your premium visibility features and insights.
✓
✓
✓
Don’t be afraid to reach out
Cross-reference with your goals
Optimize your profile for search
When someone who’s viewed your
profile seems interesting, consider
sending a message to follow up. Thank
them for reviewing your background
and ask if they would be interested in
connecting. Ask if you can offer any
assistance by either discussing your
background and/or leveraging your
network to help them find what they
need.
Keep tabs on the Appearances in
Search chart to see trends over time.
Fine-tune your profile by adding skills,
keywords, and more details on your
experience.
Take a look at the top search words and
make sure keywords that are relevant to
your career and objectives are listed. If
not, you may want to adjust your profile
to include different keywords.
linkedin.com | 11
Get connected to hiring
managers and recruiters
It’s not just what you know, it’s who you know. Networking is a critical part of a modern job search.
At its core, LinkedIn is all about people. Your Premium account gives you powerful tools to easily—
and credibly—get in touch with the recruiters, hiring mangers, and influencers who can hire you.
Zero in on the
people you need
It’s all about focus. LinkedIn members can search for
people by relationship, location, current company,
past company, industry, school, or profile language.
But as a Job Seeker Premium subscriber, you can
significantly cut down on the time you need to find
recruiters in your industry, executives at your target
companies, or anyone else relevant to your job
search by using Premium search filters.
How it works
First, find the Advanced link to the right of the search box at
the top of the page. Once you’ve clicked through, you can
identify your Premium filters by looking for the ones with a gold
LinkedIn logo next to them.
Advanced
Avery Kistner
Try fine-tuning your searches through filtering by
seniority level, company size, interests, and Fortune
1000. The upshot? You get better, and more
targeted results.
linkedin.com | 13
Premium search
in action
Relationship
Location
Current company
Industry
Past company
School
Senior
Company size: 11-50
American Organic
Natural Product Industry
Seniority level
Jamie Schwab is looking for a job as a Chief
Technology Officer at a mid-sized company in the
Software industry. She uses her Premium search
filters to find executive recruiters who specialize in
filling C-level positions in her field.
✓ Senior
Interested in
Company size
✓
Fortune 1000
Since she has limited time to spend looking for
relevant profiles, Jamie also sets up Premium search
alerts targeted at finding new recruiters in her
industry, so she’ll be sure to catch any headhunters
who may be sourcing talent for roles relevant to her.
linkedin.com | 14
Be prepared with
key information
Want to make a great first impression with new
contacts? Before an interview or any other important
conversation, take a look at the person’s profile to
gather some insight on their background, interests,
and any common connections. You can use this as a
conversation starter.
Activity Feed
Background
Experience, skills & expertise,
education, honors & awards,
projects, volunteering,
organizations, additional info
Recommendations
Groups
Following
News, Companies, Influencers
linkedin.com | 15
Reach anyone
with InMail
How it works
When you’re looking at someone’s profile, simply click
Send InMail to send a message directly to their inbox.
Want to get in touch with someone who’s outside
your network? InMail gives you the ability to reach
out to any LinkedIn member, even if you’re
not connected.
There’s no barrier to getting started—you don’t need
their email address, phone number, or any other
specific contact information.
Connect
Send InMail
Whether your goal is to follow up on a job
application, get an informational interview, or simply
reach out to a headhunter, InMail makes it easy.
linkedin.com | 16
InMail in action
Sam Liu, a video editor for an online magazine,
is interested in switching industries. He sees an
opening for an editor job at a leading gaming
company and discovers that Marlena Jones, who
went to his college, works at that same company.
He sends her an InMail message explaining their
connection and asks if she has time available to give
him insights into her company’s culture, values, and
hiring process. After getting the inside scoop, Sam
is now able to tailor his resume and cover letter to
the company and position, increasing his chances of
landing an interview.
Compose your message
To: Marlena Jones
From: Sam Liu
Subject: Editor position
Your message to Marlena:
Hi Marlena,
Greetings from a fellow ABC University alum!
I noticed that you…
InMail messages receive a response 2x more often
than emails or cold calls.
linkedin.com | 17
Tips for success
Follow these three tips to create a compelling InMail.
✓
✓
✓
Be engaging
Be concise
Be personal
Use your first message to start the conversation and pique interest. Your goal
is to get a response, not seal the deal.
Keep it brief and to the point. You
only have a few seconds to capture
someone’s attention and convey the
value of your message.
Customized InMail messages get a 50%
higher response rate. Scan through
the person’s profile to reference any
people or experiences you share in
common, and be specific about why
you’re interested in them.
linkedin.com | 18
Get ahead with Premium insights
Knowledge is power. Your new Premium account gives you insider access to
information that can help you get focused on the right opportunities, perfect your
job search strategy, and ultimately land your dream job faster.
How it works
See how you
compare with
Applicant Insights
Online and off — the job search process can be
somewhat of a mystery. Sometimes, it can be
difficult (or even impossible) to gauge whether
or not a job is a good fit for you, or how tricky the
competition might be. But with Applicant Insights,
a unique Job Seeker Premium feature, you can get
a sneak peek at how you stack up – before and after
you apply for jobs.
View any job post on LinkedIn. Once it has received 10 or more
applicants, a percentile ranking will reveal how you stack up
when compared to the other applicants for that same job.
For example, if Applicant Insights revealed that “You’d be in
the top 10% of applicants for this job,” that means that based
on your LinkedIn profile, you’d be a better fit than 90% of the
applicant pool.
25
Applicants
You’d be in the top 50% of applicants for this job
based on your LinkedIn profile
Applications over time
Tip: Apply early to maximize the chances of getting your application read.
20
10
0
[1] Rankings are estimated based on data in your LinkedIn profile and are not endorsed by
employers and may not accurately reflect the outcome of your application.
May 18
May 19
linkedin.com | 20
Applicant Insights
in Action
Maria Orocio is interested in a job posting for a
Senior Sales Manager at Commona Corporation.
Before applying to the job, she sees that she’d be in
the top 25% of applicants.
She then clicks ‘Get More Insights’ to see how she
stacks up based on:
•
•
•
•
Seniority
Number of connections at the company
Skills
Education level & fields of study
She notices that other applicants have the skills
‘Salesforce.com’ and ‘Demand Generation’ listed on
their profiles. Maria has these skills too, and quickly
adds them to her profile before she submits her
application.
Seniority
Update your profile to make sure it features all your relevant job experience.
Entry
Senior
Manager
Director
VP
Network size at this company
Extend your network by connecting with people you may know.
You
3
Other Applicants
5
Top skills and areas of expertise
Add relevant skills to improve your chances of getting this job.
✓
Social Media Marketing
✓
Digital Marketing
✓
Copywriting
Education
Find fellow alumni who may be able to connect you with job opportunities.
67% Bachelor’s Degree
21% Masters Degree
12% Other
linkedin.com | 21
How it works
Focus your
job search with
salary data
When you’re searching for jobs that are a good fit
for you, you can narrow down listings by keywords,
geographic area, industry, function, company, job
title, date posted, experience level, and how you’re
connected to the company.
As a Premium member, you have an additional
filter: salary. You can filter job listings by estimated
salary range to focus on the ones that meet your
desired critiera. Then, see detailed salary estimates*
on each job posting to see salary, bonus, and
total compensation.
*Salary data is provided by a company called PayScale and is available for jobs in the USA, UK,
Canada, and Australia. Estimates are based on job-specific attributes including industry, title,
location, and other factors. Salaries are not necessarily endorsed by companies who post jobs
on LinkedIn, and actual compensation may vary.
Go to the Jobs homepage at linkedin.com/jobs and click
Advanced Search. Go to the salary section and check the box
that meets your desired salary requirements.
Once you find a job that piques your interest, click the job
title to read the description. On the right side of the page,
you’ll see a module that says Salary Range for Jobs Like This.
Click the tabs Salary, Bonus, and Total Cash to see estimated
compensation at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile levels.
Salary Range
$XXX
$X
25th
$XX
50th
75th
Percentile
linkedin.com | 22
More premium features to explore
The highlights
We’ve covered a lot of what your account has to offer, but there’s even more
you can do now that you’re Premium. Check out some highlights below.
More search results
Introductions
Saved search alerts
Job Seeker Premium members see up
to 5x more profiles with every search.
Combined with expanded profiles, this
brings more power to your ability to
find the people you need on LinkedIn.
Introductions are a trustworthy way to
reach out to insiders at companies you
want to work for through people you
know in common.
Once you’ve narrowed down your
search to find people who fit your
needs, there’s no need to go back and
search again every time you want to
find new results.
Near the top of a 2nd or 3rd degree
connection’s profile, choose
Get Introduced from the dropdown
menu. Choose a person you know, and
craft a message asking them for an
introduction.
Simply save your favorite searches,
and we’ll send you up to five automatic
weekly alerts whenever new results
appear, so you’ll never miss out on
someone you might be interested in.
linkedin.com | 24
Get the most from LinkedIn
Beyond your Premium features, don’t forget to make the most of LinkedIn’s
basic professional tools: perfect your profile, grow your network, and join the
professional conversation.
Perfecting your profile
Keeping your profile fresh and up to date will help you get noticed. LinkedIn members
with complete profiles are 40x more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.
Profile photo
Experience
Make a great first impression with a professionallooking photo. The best are high-quality headshots
with simple backgrounds. LinkedIn members with
profile photos are 7x more likely to be found in
searches.
Include descriptions for each position, including the
achievements you’re proudest of. Having your two most
recent positions on your profile makes it 12x more likely
to be found. Don’t have a current position? List volunteer
work, freelance work, or other professional activities.
Education
Volunteer experience
Alumni often use LinkedIn to network and make
contacts, so make sure you’ve added the names
of any colleges and universities you’ve attended.
This is a great way to connect with others who share
your passions. Plus, LinkedIn research found that 1 in
5 hiring managers has hired a candidate based in part
on volunteer experience.
Skills & expertise
Recommendations
Adding skills and expertise makes it easy for your
connections to endorse you for your strengths
and knowledge, as well as helping you show up in
relevant searches.
Ask some of your connections—like clients, coworkers,
and business partners—to write recommendations of
your work. When making the request, try reminding
them of your past projects and accomplishments.
linkedin.com | 26
Finding the right jobs for you
With the large variety of jobs out there, it can be challenging to navigate the ecosystem
and find the ones that best meet your needs. Here are some quick tips on zeroing in on
the opportunities that excite you.
Advanced search
Jobs you may be interested in
Using our basic job search functionality, you can
search for jobs by keyword, geographic location,
function, industry, and salary range.
Our Jobs homepage shows jobs that may be a good fit
for you based on information in your LinkedIn profile.
If the recommendations aren’t quite what you’re
looking for, tweak your profile or narrow down the list
by clicking See All and filtering by company name,
location, date posted, and more.
If you want to get more specific, click on
Advanced Search to narrow down job listings by
company, job title, date posted, experience level, and
how you’re connected to the company.
Saved job alerts
Jobs in your network
Once you find the right filters for your job search,
click Save at the top right corner of the search results
page. Then choose how often you want to receive
email alerts about new opportunities: daily, weekly, or
monthly.
At the bottom of our Jobs homepage, you can see
a list of companies currently hiring on LinkedIn
where you have a direct connection. Simply click the
company logo to learn more about careers at the
company and see a full list of job postings.
linkedin.com | 27
Growing your network
A larger network increases your chances of finding jobs, business opportunities,
candidates, leads, and customers. Here are some of the easiest ways to make
meaningful connections.
Add your email contacts
Find other people you may know
Connect as soon as you meet
There’s a good chance that a lot of
people you know are already on
LinkedIn. The easiest way to find
and connect with them quickly is to
search your email contacts.
LinkedIn offers personalized
recommendations of people we
think you might want to connect with,
based on what we know about you.
Make it a habit to actively connect on
LinkedIn with new people you meet
every day. There’s no better time to add
someone to your network than shortly
after being introduced, when your
meeting is fresh in their mind.
To get started, find the
Add Connections link at the top of your
homepage. You can select as many
or as few people as you’d like before
sending invitations.
Once you click People You May Know
in the top right of your homepage, you
can keep exploring and discover more
connections based on school, past
jobs, and more.
Connecting over LinkedIn is also
a great way to continue to build a
relationship with someone new.
linkedin.com | 28
Discover groups relevant to your interests
Joining the
professional
conversation
Have you ever shared an interesting link with your
network—or found out about something cool from
an article on LinkedIn?
By participating in the discussions taking place
throughout LinkedIn you can keep yourself top
of mind with your connections and build your
professional reputation among your peers. Check
out some more ways to get insights and enhance
your professional brand.
Joining a LinkedIn group is a great way to meet
like-minded people and have conversations about
topics that matter to you.
Stay on top of industry news
At the top of your homepage, you’ll see personalized
recommendations of news we think you’ll be interested
in. This makes it easy to keep up with what’s happening in
your industry, so you’ll always have a conversation starter
at the ready.
Try sharing one of these articles to start a conversation
and see what your network thinks!
Read big ideas from thought leaders
Looking for inspiration? LinkedIn Influencers are an
exclusive group of thought leaders—from Richard
Branson to Barack Obama—who publish original
content on LinkedIn.
linkedin.com | 29
Ready to get started with
your new Premium account?
Go to lnkd.in/jobseeker to start taking steps towards landing your next
career opportunity. We wish you the best of luck on your job search!